The elite men’s field for this year’s TCS London Marathon contains a mouth-watering list of distance running talent, headed by last year’s champion Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia and featuring three of the five fastest men in the history of the marathon – as well as Sir Mo Farah.

Lemma had raced 21 times over the marathon distance before his victory in London last year. He had previously racked up wins in smaller marathons such as Frankfurt and Vienna and finished third in three different Abbott World Marathon Majors, including the London Marathon in 2020.

The 31-year-old will be eager to show the victory was not a one-off by defending his title at this year’s TCS London Marathon on Sunday October 2, but he faces competition from an incredible line-up of athletes, including three countrymen who are among the fastest ever marathon runners.

Kenenisa Bekele is the second-fastest marathon runner in history with 2:01:41 and one of the greatest distance runners of all time.

Now aged 40, the three-time Olympic champion on the track is in the autumn of his career, but he will be hoping for one last dance to finally get a London Marathon victory to add to his incredible profile. The Ethiopian has twice come close to winning in London, finishing third in 2016 and second in 2017, but injuries have hampered him in recent years since winning the 2019 Berlin Marathon in 2:01:41.

Also in the field are fellow Ethiopians Birhanu Legese, who, with a personal best of 2:02:48, is the third-fastest man in history, and Mosinet Geremew (2:02:55), the fifth-fastest. Geremew finished third in the London Marathon last year and was the winner of this year’s Seoul Marathon.

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Others returning this year are 2021 runner-up Vincent Kipchumba of Kenya, who also finished second in 2020, while Belgium’s Bashir Abdi, the Olympic bronze medallist and European record-holder with 2:03:36, will make his debut in the race.

Abdi is a training partner of Farah, who will return to his home-town marathon for a fourth time – the last time being in 2019.

Other British athletes confirmed to race are Chris Thompson, Phil Sesemann – the first domestic athlete to finish at last year’s race – and Mohamud Aadan, plus Weynay Ghebresilassie and Charlie Hulson.